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 JANUARY 31, 2008 Women Should Not Postpone Knee Replacement Surgery Women tend to wait longer than men to seek out a knee replacement, and their mobility and quality of life may suffer for it. Doctors generally advise patients to wait as long as they can before pursuing knee replacements, with the thinking that it's a once-in-a-lifetime surgery that should last an average of 20 years. However, delaying surgery can limit your quality of life because how you function before surgery indicates your performance afterward. At the University of Delaware's Physical Therapy Clinic, 229 candidates for total knee replacements, including 95 men and 126 women with osteoarthritis, were evaluated and compared to 44 healthy men and women of similar age and weight. They underwent a series of standard physical tests, such as stair climbing and the distance covered in a 6-minute walk, and tests of the quadriceps (thigh muscle) strength and range of motion of the knee. The researchers, led by Lynn Snyder-Mackler, found the men generally were stronger and had more knee function than the women, and the women knee-replacement candidates showed a much greater degree of physical disability - basically, they had bone on bone in the knee - compared to the male candidates. The research appeared in the November 2007 Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Why are women waiting so long before pursuing surgery? Synder-Mackler suggests that perhaps women can bear pain better than men, or it could be that women are just trying to follow doctor's orders. If you feel profound buckling and weakness in your knee when climbing stairs, that is a sign of a major problem. Ask an orthopedist to evaluate your knee. It's better to get help sooner than later before a severe knee injury leaves you with a sedentary lifestyle. |
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